Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Pairing: ShikamaruXIno

February Love

I'll be Romeo

Valentine, oh Valentine

Be my Juliet

"Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair," a blonde smirked, "My hair is longest. I'll get a Valentine for sure." The cerulean eyed girl turned to her side, nudging a bored boy with her elbow, winking at him. He just yawned and began to try tuning her out.

'Sasuke this, Sasuke that,' he thought, 'Why bother? So troublesome.' Breathing in deep, he smelled the perfume she always wore. She heard that 'he' liked it so she wore it. Shikamaru didn't see the point, 'that boy' was always so preoccupied with something pointless, something troublesome. Why did she adore him so much?

Just like Romeo and Juliet, it seemed like they would hate each other.

"Ino," he whispered, careful to place his math textbook in front of his face so as not to get caught, "He's not going to give you a Valentine." But the way her face twitched slightly, he could tell she was ignoring him. The boy put his book down, looking at Sasuke. That boy's angry scowl was replaced with a gentle smile whenever he was around that pink-haired kunoichi. What was her name again? Right, Haruno Sakura, that was it.

It was too much of a bother to admit it, but, to see her shot down every time was painful. That Sasuke was a blind idiot. Choosing some strange, unconfident girl over Ino, the strong, beautiful one. That boy had to be insane. That family murder must have messed him up big time. Still, watching the angelic platinum blonde cry behind closed doors stung his heart. When would that girl give up? Sighing, Shikamaru raised his hand. "Sensei, I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Whatever," the rather fed up teacher stated, "Just come back this time." The brunette boy just stuck both hands into his pockets and walked down the hall. Jumping out a window, Shikamaru sat down under that tree that he always did. Seeing his breath in little puffs of heat reminded him of the clouds that floated high above his head. Closing his eyes, the tactical genius thought of a solution to relieve both their heartaches.

Letting out a soothing breath of toxic emotions, he relaxed. 'Now where was I? Right, that cloud on the far right,' Shikamaru frowned. The clouds had all cleared. Now only the blue sky and golden sun stared back at him. Now, all he could think about was her. But wasn't that the whole purpose of cloud watching?

He claimed he slept to ignore her nagging. He claimed he watched the clouds because they were so carefree. He claimed she was too troublesome. He claimed he didn't care about the fact that she liked Sasuke. With that said, Nara Shikamaru is a liar. Not only a liar, but a good liar at that.

He slept to dream of her. He watched the clouds because he wanted to see the sky and sun, the sky and sky that looked so much like her eyes and hair. She was troublesome, but he liked troublesome. He just didn't want to deal with it, but liking it, that was a different matter all together. He wanted to knock that boy silly every time she whispered his name, or worse, thought about him with that smile. He wanted to strangle that Sasuke whenever she dreamt about him, he could know these things. He knew from that wistful glance. He knew from that far off look in her doll like eyes. He just knew.

Just like Romeo and Juliet, it turns out they couldn't hate one another.

That boy didn't want to lie. He hated lying. But she liked liars right? She liked 'him'. Even if she didn't, she liked the kind that didn't show their love right? She liked the kind that thought of her troublesome, right? Wrong. She loved him. Only him. But Mr. Troublesome dubbed it too bothersome to admit. So he would keep lying, even though it made him gag.

He would keep it up, if only to make it everyday seem brighter. He would keep it up until one day when she would move on. He would keep it up to make it seem like the world was fair. He would keep lying so he could dream about her, day and night. He would keep it up so he could pretend, eventually, she would see. One day that blind girl would see right? He hoped so. But then again, he knew everything there was to know. And that was the biggest lie of them all.

"Shikamaru!" Ino screamed, giddy.

It was too early for this much noise. He lifted an eyebrow, trying to look alert, though failing to do so. "I got a Valentine!" she squealed, "I bet I know who it's from."

"Oh really?" Shikamaru smiled, sure she would get it wrong. He was positive. After all, how could he, the genius with an IQ of over 200, get anything wrong?

"I bet it was from Sasuke!" the aquamarine eyed girl stated.

'Bingo,' her friend told himself. Now she would stop nagging and be happy for once. If she was happy, he was happier. As an added bonus, the bossy blonde would leave him to his napping and cloud watching. There was no way this plan could backfire.

Suddenly, her cheerful aura turned icy cold. "What?" Shikamaru asked, too lazy to lift his head from the desk.

"He's kissing…" she whispered, her voice beginning to crack. The boy's head snapped up, and his eyes narrowed at the image of her blushing face and that smirk. Oh if he had a chance, he would wipe that smile off that stupid boy's face. And that girl would have to deal with the lazy, but deadly, ninja of team ten.

Just like Romeo and Juliet, something just had to go wrong.

"Ino?" he asked, concerned, watching the tears well up in her eyes, on the brink of spilling. Her fists were clenched and her lips were pursed as if she wanted to hurt someone badly. Shikamaru didn't blame her, he felt like punching a certain raven haired shinobi right now.

"I give up!" she screamed, letting the crystal droplets run down her pale cheeks, "I lose. I don't care anymore!"

That was a flat out lie. He could tell right away. If she didn't care, why did her emotions flood out? If she didn't care, why had she still been holding on even after the signs were obvious? If she didn't care, why would he?

"Shikamaru," she sniffed, rubbing her eyes, "You were right! You were always right!"

That just made the brunette boy snap. He ran over to Sasuke, punching the boy in the face. Immediately the Uchiha retaliated. "What was that for?" the boy shouted, his Sharingan activated.

'Punch me harder,' Shikamaru thought. Smirking, the lazy know-it-all laughed, "Hit me again." The blow was much harsher this time. He wanted it to be. He wanted it to hurt more than his heart. He wanted it to make him cry. He wanted to show how much of a weakling he was. He wanted to show his precious princess that he was a bad person. After all, 'that boy' was an angel on Earth right? Right. That was right. Whatever Ino thought was right had to be right. It just had to be.

Just like Romeo and Juliet, Romeo killed himself upon seeing Juliet's lifeless face.

"Is that all you can do?" Shikamaru taunted. It didn't sting enough yet. It wasn't enough. It was never enough.

He wanted himself to be punished for making her cry. He sent the stupid letter. He sent the stupid chocolates. He sent the stupid love poems every year. He was the one that made her love him. He was the one who hurt her. He was the one that deserved to be hurting right now. He deserved to be in pain for ever thinking he could love someone like her. He deserved every bit of it.

"Stop it!" a feminine voice shrieked. A worried girl rushed over to his side, slapping that raven haired boy. "Get away from him you monster!" the blonde sneered, watching the blood stream down her friend's face.

Shikamaru began to cry. He whispered, "I'm the monster. I deserve it." Feeling the room spin, he coughed. 'I sent those letters. I sent you my love,' he thought.

"Shh," she whispered, cradling his body with her arms. He smiled, though feeling himself almost black out.

Just like Romeo and Juliet, they cried.

"I…I…," he whispered, voice escaping him. He heard her sobbing from above him, like an angel crying from heaven. 'I'm…s-sorry,' the boy apologized in his mind feeling the droplets upon his face, 'But I can't tell you. Every time I try, you just cry.'

Just like Romeo and Juliet, they didn't get their happy ending.

But…just like Romeo and Juliet you knew…

They

Were

In

Love.

Coming up : SasuXHina